How smaller and larger companies can work together

A successful entrepreneur is returning to Burton-on-Trent to share his experience as an SME working for multinational brands as part of a group dedicated to helping smaller and larger town businesses to work together.

Jeremy Eaton, who runs The Vital Agency, will be at MeetUp@Marstons on Thursday June 15 to talk about how, as an independent small business, he has been able to work with large multi-national companies such as Marston’s, Vodafone, Audi, Nokia, easyJet, NFUM and Yankee Candle.

Lifting the lid on the perception that opportunities aren’t available to smaller businesses and sole traders Jeremy, who grew up in Burton and now runs his own successful multi-award winning communications business, will be talking to SME owners about how to find opportunities within larger companies.

Looking at what companies can do to make their business more appealing to larger companies and how to attract new opportunities Jeremy will also be looking at how larger businesses can benefit from local resources too.

“There really is a wealth of opportunity out there for smaller businesses to support larger companies,” says the former John Taylor pupil whose role involves overseeing and implementing communications at one of the town’s biggest breweries, Marston’s Brewery.

“I think sometimes smaller companies lack confidence or don’t know where to go or how to approach larger companies. But this doesn’t have to be the case, tech starts up are a great example of this, they see no barriers.

“Vital has worked for our clients across the globe and have seen the benefits for both sides that collaborative working brings. Independent companies bring a host of skills and knowledge that can prove invaluable to a company and multinational or larger businesses provide a prime source of work for SME’s looking to grow.”

The meetup will be held in the function room of The Albion pub, in Shobnall Road, Burton-on-Trent.

Tickets cost £10 and must be booked online at bit.ly/MeetUpMarstonsJune15. This month the price includes a pint of 61Deep, or a soft drinks, plus a snack buffet prepared by The Albion.

MeetUp@Marstons, which is organised by Burton Small Business and Marston’s Brewery, is designed to showcase opportunities for local businesses to work together.

Joanne Wyke, Marketing Manager at Marston’s Brewery, said: “As a business we are proud to support local business growth. We are keen to work with local independent suppliers and are proud of our Burton roots. It is great to be able to share our knowledge and help other businesses to see the potential of working together.”

MeetUp@Marstons, meets on the third Thursday of every month between 6pm and 8pm. Its usual venue is the brewery’s own visitor centre, DE14, on Shobnall Road, although the venue has changed for June only to feature one of the local Marston’s pubs.

There is no joining or membership fee for MeetUp@Marstons and no restrictions on the types of businesses that can attend. More information on all the MeetUp@Marstons summer events, including a special behind-the-scenes brewery tour in August, is available at bit.ly/SummerMeetups.

Burton Small Business is run by writer and social media consultant Elaine Pritchard of Caittom Publishing, award-winning animator Tilley Bancroft of Red Door Studios and journalist Cheryl Morris of Creative Word PR. The group is dedicated to providing support for local businesses and works closely with the Small Business Saturday movement each year to promote the importance of spending money locally.